Journalist Tool

Kineticist

  • HDashboard
  • IItems
  • ↓Ingest
  • SSources
  • KBeats
  • BBriefs
  • RIntel
  • QSearch
  • NName Review
  • +Health

v0.1.0

← Back to items

Episode 45 – Redemption

Slam Tilt Podcast·podcast_episode·analyzed·Jun 1, 2017
View original
Export .md

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.034

TL;DR

Nick Schell discusses his North American EM repair tour, sharing techniques and game design philosophy.

Summary

Slam Tilt Podcast Episode 45 features an in-depth interview with Nick Schell, an EM pinball repair technician from Dallas conducting a cross-country "Nick's North American Pinball Tour" where he repairs machines and challenges owners to competitive matches. The episode covers his journey repairing 60+ machines across 25+ stops, his tool kit and techniques (including LED restoration and Dremel use), his EM game preferences (Freedom prototype favorite, dislikes Gottlieb design), and extensive discussion of EM gameplay mechanics, design philosophy, and community dynamics.

Key Claims

  • Nick Schell has repaired 60+ machines across approximately 25 different stops on his North American pinball tour

    high confidence · Nick Schell directly stated: 'I've fixed 60 machines already. Made about, oh, maybe 25 different stops.'

  • Nick's current competitive record on the EM Home Challenge is approximately 15 wins and 4 losses

    high confidence · Nick stated: 'I'm about 15 and 4' with caveat that more recent record may be different and not yet updated on Pinside

  • There are approximately 100 Freedom prototype EM machines known to exist

    medium confidence · Nick stated: 'there only I don know 100 or so built' when discussing his Freedom prototype acquisition

  • Williams EMs have more accessible design features than Gottlieb EMs, particularly regarding score reels

    high confidence · Nick explained: 'the ballet stuff is like, it's just right there' versus Gottlieb reels being 'sandwiched together and you have to take them apart'

  • Nick operates an EM education program at Dallas Makerspace called Vector that teaches machine disassembly and repair

    high confidence · Nick stated: 'we have people, you know, we take them through basically taking the machine completely apart and then putting it back together'

  • Nick is developing an LED stealth mod featuring warm white bulbs under plastics and strategic back glass/insert placement

    high confidence · Nick described: 'a warm white kind of blended recipe where I'll use bulbs under the plastic, and then LEDs sort of strategically in the back glass and inserts'

  • Chicago Coin machines are the least favorite to repair due to cheap design, particularly the score bowl

    high confidence · Nick stated: 'my least favorite is probably Chicago Coin because of the score bowl. They were just so cheap back then' and 'I actually just won't work on those without a massive surcharge'

  • There are at least three known contact bowlers (28-foot) in New York State owned by enthusiasts

Notable Quotes

  • “I got laid off the day Trump got elected. Like literally that day. No, I was expecting a kind of our department got hit, you know, by one of these waves and I was already burned out.”

    Nick Schell @ Early in interview — Explains the personal catalyst for his career pivot from IT to full-time EM repair tourism

  • “I'm teaching people how to fish. That's the thing. I am actually – I want the knowledge pool to grow because it's so fun to work on them, let alone play him.”

    Nick Schell @ Mid-interview — Core philosophy: knowledge sharing and EM education are as important as repair work itself

  • “the ballet stuff is like, it's just right there. It's like, whenever I take people on the tour and they see their first ballet score reel, they're like, oh my God, it's all right there. I can just reach in and do it?”

    Nick Schell @ Game design discussion — Illustrates design philosophy differences between manufacturers and accessibility for repair

  • “Gottlieb was the dominant type of game and lane chasing. It was a little more quaint. Gameplay was a little more quaint back then.”

    Bruce Nightingale @ Gottlieb design discussion — Provides generational perspective on Gottlieb popularity being driven by older collectors' nostalgia

  • “Freedom prototype. Ooh! We have plenty of the companies. Yeah, you guys played that at TPF.”

    Nick Schell @ EM preferences discussion — His favorite EM and what draws him to unusual flipper geometry and gameplay

  • “I paid $1,100 for it, sight unseen. And this was early in my buying, you know, experience or whatever. And I got it. The play field was torn up. The back glass was touched up poorly.”

    Nick Schell @ Freedom prototype acquisition story — Demonstrates collector risk-taking and restoration expertise despite initial poor condition

  • “I hate this game. It exemplifies actually what I really kind of dislike about a lot of Gottliebs in the sense that they're just lane chasing games.”

    Nick Schell — Core criticism of Gottlieb design philosophy: over-reliance on lane chasing reduces playfield agency

Entities

Nick SchellpersonRon HallettpersonBruce NightingalepersonSlam Tilt PodcastorganizationMartinpersonZachpersonBill HansenpersonTim Epositoperson

Signals

  • ?

    content_signal: Slam Tilt Podcast Episode 45 features extended interview with Nick Schell, an active EM repair technician conducting high-profile touring service. Interview format allows deep exploration of EM repair methodology and community education initiatives.

    high · Full episode dedicated to Nick Schell interview; hosts conduct extended 'Game You Like, Game You Hate' segment; Nick discusses tour stops, repair work, and education programming

  • ?

    restoration_signal: Nick Schell conducting active North American repair tour with documented repair history (60+ machines, 25+ stops); tour includes competitive 'EM Home Challenge' component (15-4 record). Represents emerging service model for EM specialist labor.

    high · Nick documented on Pinside with ongoing tour thread; repaired machines across Dallas, Nashville, Florida, East Coast, Chicago, Minneapolis; heading to Canada

  • ?

    restoration_signal: Nick Schell developing 'stealth recipe' LED mod using warm white bulbs under plastics combined with strategic back glass and insert LEDs; positioned as historically-authentic modernization respecting original design intent.

    high · Nick described technique: 'warm white kind of blended recipe where I'll use bulbs under the plastic, and then LEDs sort of strategically in the back glass and inserts' with community positive reception

  • ?

    design_innovation: Discussion of Freedom prototype's unusual flipper geometry creating distinct gameplay requiring different skill set (trapping, passing, bumping); positioned as gameplay depth advantage over standard EM layouts.

    high · Bruce and Nick discuss how Freedom's flipper angle increases difficulty and teaches new skills; 'if you play a normal EM or a solid state, the flippers, you can hit the spinner with a nice shot' but 'with the prototype, it's a lot harder'

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.294

0:00
Hey Butt-Head, this bus ride is giving me wood. Yeah, that's like the only reason to even go to school. Yeah, wood good, school bad.
0:30
Coming to you from beautiful upstate New York, this is the Slam Tilt Podcast, the show about all things pinball. I'm your host, Ron Hallett, here with my co-host, Bruce Nightingale. The last Bond movie we are on. Yes, the last Bond movie. This is episode 45, Spectre, which I also didn't see. Yeah, what else does it do with you with these new movies? Yeah, I'm just not into pop culture. But we have a guest. Yes, we do, and we have a little bit of time with this guest, so we want to get him right on right away. His name is Nick Schell. He is from Dallas, Texas, and he is going across our great country doing, I would say, honestly, the Lord's work. He is repairing EM pinball machines.
1:18
Nick, how are you doing? Yes, indeed, I am doing the holy work and spreading the knowledge. I want to. That's the main thing. It's a strength in the EM Army. It is. How did you find out about my thing? Well, first, we followed you on Pinside.
1:38
That's where I first saw you. And then I know Martin very well from the Museum Game of Play. So Martin recommended that we had to talk to you. And plus, you've also met one of our people. You met Zach at Allentown, I think, who's one of our people we always have on our show, not always have on our show, but we always talk about, and he's one of our repair guys up here in Rochester, and he says, you know your EMs. So when Zach, who likes EMs and really repairs EMs, says this, I know it's very impressive. So what made you get in this hobby, and what's making you do this trip right now for people out there who want to know? Basically that Tinder is not ever matching up with anyone, and so, you know, I figured I have to do something with my time. No, seriously. Actually, I got laid off the day Trump got elected. Like literally that day. No, I was expecting a kind of our department got hit, you know, by one of these waves and I was already burned out. But still, it was like, wow, what's that guy's favorite phrase? You're fired? And they're like, well, actually, Mr. Schill, we have to talk about that. so I found my so it was a good deal I worked for you know from a long time it was fine I got my nice little severance and I'm like okay I can either jump behind a corporate cubicle for another 10 years or whatever I've been in IT for 25 years or is there anyone out there who needs any EM pinball help and then like a hundred hands went up like around the country like oh my god come here fix my ball bowler oh my gosh fix this game and I'm like oh well, maybe I'll take this show on the road. So, and there have been things, you know, I've had this building momentum in EM land with various things. I guess we can talk about that later. But, yeah, it was the timing of Tinder fail and, you know, a mid-career change. And now I'm like, yeah, I want to see the country. So, just a perfect storm of opportunity.

medium confidence · Ron mentioned Tim Eposito owning a 28-foot contact bowler, another in Buffalo, and Mickey Treat owning one, totaling three in NY State

@ Game You Hate discussion

  • “We here at the Slamtail Podcast have no company love. We hate everything.”

    Ron Hallett @ Discussion of manufacturer brand loyalty — Establishes the podcast's editorial stance of manufacturer neutrality and critical assessment

  • “It teaches you new skills. No, because you've got to learn how to trap it and flip it and pass it and bump it and all that.”

    Bruce Nightingale @ Freedom prototype gameplay discussion — Recognition that unusual flipper geometry increases gameplay depth and skill expression

  • “The Dremel, the magic brush, the 443 attempt. That is the game changer, absolutely.”

    Nick Schell @ Tool discussion — Identifies Dremel as revolutionary tool for EM restoration work

    • Mickey Treatperson
    Valley Fireballgame
    Freedom prototypegame
    Bally Circusgame
    Sweetheartsgame
    2001: A Space Odysseygame
    Old Chicagogame
    Jumping Jacksgame
    Spanish Eyesgame
    Argosygame
    Grand Prixgame
    Silver Ball Museumorganization
    Dallas Makerspaceorganization
    Pinsideorganization
    Vectororganization
    Billperson
  • ?

    community_signal: Nick Schell's tour framed as proactive knowledge preservation for EM community; emphasis on teaching repair methodology rather than just fixing machines; education program at Dallas Makerspace (Vector) teaching disassembly/reassembly.

    high · Nick states: 'I'm teaching people how to fish. That's the thing. I want the knowledge pool to grow'; Vector program takes 'people, you know, we take them through basically taking the machine completely apart and then putting it back together'

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Episode articulates clear design philosophy differences: Williams prioritizes accessible repair/modular design; Gottlieb emphasizes compact complexity; Chicago Coin prioritizes cost over functionality. Hosts and guest agree on these tradeoffs affecting long-term playability.

    high · Nick on Williams: 'the ballet stuff is like, it's just right there'; on Gottlieb: 'tight little relay stacks' and 'horrid AS relay'; on Chicago Coin: 'score bowl' cheapness requiring surcharge

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Hosts and guest distinguish between 'lane chasing' games (Gottlieb design favored by older collectors) and 'shot-depth' games (Williams/newer designs favored by younger players); framed as generational preference split, not objective quality.

    high · Bruce explains: 'lane chasing games... Gottlieb was the dominant type... Gameplay was quaint back then'; Nick: 'you plunge the ball and it goes through some lanes' then 'tiny little area where you actually play'

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Episode acknowledges concentrated Gottlieb preference in EM ranking systems driven by older collector voting patterns, creating potential distortion of popularity metrics. Suggests brand loyalty bias in IPDB/Pinside rating systems.

    medium · Bruce: 'they're kind of, they like that style' and 'concentrated group of people from the older category who are really voting up the Gottliebs really high'; describes as 'brand loyalty thing'

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Discussion of tournament frustration with games featuring high difficulty variance (2001, Jumping Jacks) due to mechanical inconsistency or poorly-calibrated skill shots. Impacts tournament fairness and player experience.

    medium · Ron on 2001: 'one out of every ten games might be decent. And that's not very good odds in a tournament'; on Jumping Jacks: 'it's a skill shot plunge fest' with ineffective side flippers

  • ?

    collector_signal: Nick acquired Freedom prototype (approximately 100 built) sight-unseen for $1,100 despite poor condition (torn playfield, poorly touched-up backglass). Demonstrates high-risk collector acquisition strategy and restoration expertise.

    high · Nick: 'I saw it on Craigslist in Las Vegas... I paid $1,100 for it, sight unseen... The play field was torn up... airbrushed and clear-coated and rebuilt everything'

  • ?

    operational_signal: Hosts mention multiple rare contact bowlers (28-foot Bowlerama clones) owned by NY collectors; suggest these should be placed on location as revenue generators. Indicates potential untapped commercial value of rare machines.

    medium · Ron: 'They should put those on location because they earn tons of money. Oh, I know. Oh, I know.'; identifies three known units in NY State

  • ?

    manufacturing_signal: Clear tradeoff identified between compact mechanical design (Gottlieb) and repair accessibility (Williams). Gottlieb's integrated relay stacks and sandwiched score reels create maintenance burden; Williams' modular approach enables easier service.

    high · Nick contrasts Gottlieb complexity ('reverse engineer' AS relay) with Williams accessibility ('score reel, it's just right there')

    • 3:44
    So, where have you gone so far on this trip? How have I gone? Oh my gosh, we're talking like how many stops now? I've fixed 60 machines already. Made about, oh, maybe 25 different stops. And I started in Dallas and went all the way up to like Nashville and then down to the Florida Panhandle and actually further down to, what is it, almost. And of course, the Silver Ball Museum went down there, Delray Beach, fantastically. And then all the way up to the East Coast and across and then ran into Martin again. at the Museum of Play that he's got up there. Really cool.
    4:23
    And now it's kind of wound through Chicago and now up through the top of Minneapolis. So I'm taking the other half right now. And you're headed to the Great White North, I heard. Well, it's not white right now, but usually it is. Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool.
    4:40
    Hey, yeah. Hey, hello there. We're heading up to the Great White North. Yeah, I actually said I want to eat poutine. and at the best place possible. And Bill, who's Ninja Boot on Pinside, is like, oh, I'll hook you up with that. Sure, sure, I've got the right place to go. So it's not like aspiring to eat something that's like puffer fish and nothing as noble or dangerous as that. It's just basically, what, a bowl of gravy and starch, whatever. Anyway, but it's the bucket list thing. Hey, I did it. So, yes, I'm on my way now to do that. That's very cool. And it's called Nick's North American Pinball Tour. That's right. Not just American. North American. That's right. North American. Yes. That's right. We'll fix for food, it says on the end. I'm reading the graphic. That's what it says. We'll fix for food. Looks like he's got a soldering iron in his hand and a screwdriver. That's right. And that's a switch adjuster. You should know that. You know, hey, you guys are pinball people. That's true. Yeah, I just see that. Yeah. The road signs were my idea about the biscuits and grits, what is it now, shrimp and grits and lobster rolls, yeah. Because there wasn't any food on the map, and I'm like, you've got to put food on the map. So anyway, Ryan put a pretty cool sign there. So anyway, go ahead. So what's the hardest machine you've had to deal with this whole trip?
    6:03
    The hardest machine, well, I've had a couple that I couldn't fix, but they actually, just two wood rails threw me off. One had been gone over by, his name is Minisfire on Pennside, and he's already an EM guy, and he couldn't fix it up. It was from 1947, and the schematic was terrible, and there was just some frayed wire in a harness. It's one of those real ghost-fix things. It was in a classroom setting, and we just didn't have time to go through it. And that was in Melbourne, Florida. Actually, Martin was there for that. And then the other one was another wood rail. It was in Port Richey that someone had actually rewired the control bank, and there were other games to work on. I'm like, you know, it's going to take me the whole stage just to undo that. So it was more of a timing thing. But I'd say the most difficult one that, you know, got fixed was actually Bill Hansen's place. He creates these really nice shooters, like the shooter rod that has the Lord of the Rings mod with the ring around it and the Captain America, all that stuff. Really cool.
    7:09
    But he had a Spirit of 76, and as I was fixing it, it was just getting worse. And I was kind of like, and it's kind of near the start of my tour, and I'm like, I do know what I'm doing. Trust me. I had this Woody Allen moment. You know, I'm just visiting, and I put my finger in there, and I electrocute, but I'm not going to die. I mean, you've got liability for that. I was going into that kind of thing. But he, you know, it was like the AX relay, and the player unit was messed up. Anyway, it was getting worse and worse and worse and worse, and then, bam, everything fixed.
    7:48
    And that was near the end of the day. So that was a bit of a sweating bullets moment because I don't want to leave someone with a machine in worse condition, you know, than I get there. But all's well that ends well. We both know that feeling. Me and Ron both do. We do? Oh, okay. Well, we do because I actually go out and fix for machines also, but I'm more of a solid state guy. Yeah, but Bruce could have used you when he had his Grand Prix. Yeah, my Grand Prix had ghosts in it, and I had Zach over, and he was sitting there scratching his head. I had a couple other guys, and they're like, wow. And I finally sold it off, and the guy took them like three months to finally go through the whole thing and finally got it all done, and I was like, more power to you.
    8:32
    So I have a couple questions for you for EMs, because what is your favorite EM to work on? Is it the Gottliebs? Is it the Williams? No. Okay. Not Gottliebs. Good God, no. So the Gottlieb guys, they don't like it when I say, you know, the Gottlieb guys, I give them a hard time. You know, I kid them a lot. But they're like, if you suggest anything, like some guys, they only collect Gottliebs. And at that, only Gottlieb wedgeheads. And if you suggest that maybe there were some things that Gottlieb may not have done as well as others, you're just dead to them. You're dead to my eyes. I do not talk to you anymore. so I try to bite my tongue a little bit but Gottliebs are of the big three my least favorite because they got these tight little relay stacks and they've got like that horrid AS relay that rotates and I'm going to reverse engineer that and come out with some kind of replacement for it and then I got that player cam unit with all the it's like a combination of a stepper and a motor switch that together in one oh my god anyway and then their score reels are like sandwiched together and you have to take them apart whereas the ballet stuff is like, it's just right there. It's like, whenever I take people on the tour and they see their first ballet score reel, they're like, oh my God, it's all right there. I can just reach in and do it? I'm like, yeah. I'm like, oh wow. So, yeah, Ballet Williams are my favorite and then Gottlieb and then, of course, the least favorite is probably Chicago Coin because of the score bowl. They were just so cheap back then. They were really cheap. They were really, really cheap.
    10:10
    I actually just won't work on those without a massive surcharge. I don't blame you. Now, are you including the bowlers with that, or is that just the pins right there? Oh, yeah. No, the bowlers are actually not bad. The mechs are really large, and they're well-documented. I went through a couple of those. Those are actually kind of nice, and even the gun games are actually kind of cool, too. EM tech, it's kind of universal once you kind of get your head into how pressure and contacts should be cleaned and pressed together and how logic is either or. It actually kind of becomes much simpler after you work on them a bit. But, yeah, Scott Leap is probably my least favorite of the big three. Now, what tools are you carrying with yourself right now in your entourage of stuff with you right now? What is your necessities?
    11:11
    Let's see. I'm in the pin wagon. What do I have here? I've got some LEDs that I'm doing the stealth recipe, if people want to see that. It's like a warm white kind of blended recipe where I'll use bulbs under the plastic, and then LEDs sort of strategically in the back glass and inserts. and it's a it is different but it's sort of like what would they have done if they had these toys at the time kind of a thing you know in the spirit of the original kind of thing so a lot of people have actually gone for that they've enjoyed that um but as far as tools go it's like soldering iron switch adjuster lots of q-tips alcohol and of course the most important thing the thing which will probably go down in history as the year that people just started using Dremels.
    12:00
    The Dremel, the magic brush, the 443 attempt. That is the game changer, absolutely. And then let's see what else.
    12:12
    Needle nose pliers, of course, and like socket wrenches, flexi wire, a couple little parts, you know, you got to get your Steve Young survival pack with you. and let's see, nothing really too unusual. I do have a rivet press that I've brought with me, a little miniature one that I've never had to use, but I just want people to know that I'm looking out for them, you know. If they're in a tight corner, I've got the tools to work for them.
    12:40
    Now, you're not just fixing these, right? I've heard like you're doing like a little challenge against the owners after the repairs are done. That is correct. that is the EM home challenge, and I'm saying, look, guys, I'm going to come to your house, and I'm going to play the game. It has to be an EM, and it's two out of three. You pick the game. You decide who goes first, or if you have three EMs, we can do one on one game, one on another, and one on a third if it goes to a third. And so far, at least as far as the current state of the pin side thread is concerned, I'm about 15 and 4. Nice. But as to how we are right now not updated in the pin side, seems my lucky streak has taken a new direction here. I've had the worst centigrade 37 in my life.
    13:36
    Anyway, but so far, 15 wins against the home folks. I think it's pretty good. It's very good. You hit the Midwest guys. They're a little harder to play, some of those guys. They're really, they have nothing to do during the winter. Oh.
    13:55
    You're going to get some hate calls on that. I always do. Don't trust me. I'm Mr. Hate. Well, you know, the flip side of that, it's so cold. They've got all these awesome, like, I've been calling them because we don't have, you know, basements in Texas. So, you know, I'm like, oh, there's another one downstairs. So it's like the arcade. You know, everyone has this arcade that they're keeping all their pinball machines in. So that's kind of cool. You know, it's like, well, you're going to spend the year indoors. That's kind of not so bad. Pretty nice little collection. Well, both of us are from upstate New York, so we both have, man, caves downstairs. Ron has, what, 20? 20 too many, yeah. I have over 20 myself. and I actually built my own elevator to get him down up and down my stairs. Oh, awesome, awesome. That tells you how many EMs you have.
    14:53
    Fail. Fail, Bruce. You had one. That was the Grand Prix. No, I owned two. I owned Argosy also. Argosy. Oh, you gave that up too. Argosy is a great game. All right. I was about to say, it was nice talking to you guys.
    15:08
    No, I own two. I've owned two, and I like them. I'm just, trust me, I have a mechanical mind, and I just cannot wrap my head sometimes around, not scoring reels. It's actually like the stepper reels for like the one-player, two-player, three-player. I'm looking at the schematic, and the schematic looks very easy. And then when I look at the units, I'm saying to myself, first I say to myself, like, who the F thought this up? And then you see how integrated and how they're made such thoughtfulness and how they really made it so you can actually play four players. You can actually have different scoring with different relays pulled in. And you say, wow. And my brain goes, no, it needs to be solid state, asshole. and I'm saying, but it is in a way solid state because it was electromechanical, but it is still, you know, for a time, a mini adding and subtracting, not subtracting, but adding machine, really.
    16:07
    Or they can subtract. Some of them can step down. They can. They really can. So, yeah, like your credit wheel, those can go up and down. So there's your basic math. But, I mean, it's amazing.
    16:19
    We both have a SARS that has chimes. That's close to EM, right? Well, you know, I'm not all EM. I've got one Sinbad that's the solid state version. So, hey, you know, I've got the chimes. So, yeah. It's amazing. It is amazing how, like, you know, some things are just, like, we have a lot of people around us that have EMs. And we have, I have Tim Eposito. I don't know if you ever met him. He's up in Auburn, New York. He's got 45 EMs down in his basement alone. That's all he owns. Oh, my gosh. He actually owns one of the few contact bowlers. He actually has a 28-foot. 28-foot NBA. Yeah, I think I said that right. NBA. It's the copy of the Bowlerama. It's the Bowlerama clone.
    17:12
    Those are awesome. They are awesome. I know another person actually in Buffalo that has one also. So what does that tell you? The two are in New York State.
    17:21
    Actually, there's three. Mickey Treat owns one also. They should put those on location because they earn tons of money. Oh, I know. I do have a ball bowler in my basement, but it's been converted to solid state. Not by me, but I still have a ball bowler upstairs. But everyone that comes over, besides it being sometimes a coat rack for when we have pinball tournaments, after the pinball tournament's done, everyone wants to play that. just it's amazing how to you know 50 years ago these people make great items and they last they really do they last sometimes longer like don't get me wrong bake a light sucks yeah it can wear down and break but actually it's pretty sturdy if you take care of it but you're right they are computers and they they are rather kind of magical in the way that they convert numbers and steps and so forth into electricity. You're basically throwing sparks, kind of like an old rotary telephone.
    18:27
    And it's really fascinating that, you know, it's a great learning platform. That's kind of what I do at the Dallas Makerspace. You know, this arcade committee called Vector is a place to kind of demystify how all this stuff works. I mean, if there was one in your neighborhood, I'd say, well, go there now, because we have people, you know, we take them through basically taking the machine completely apart and then putting it back together. And then by the time you do that, you're like, oh, that's not that mysterious. And get your hands on it is the key.
    18:59
    I just need a good teacher. I need a good teacher. I can learn anything. I work on copiers. I do that kind of stuff. So I can learn it. I just need somebody to really sit down with me and say, okay, yeah, I'm going to take apart a stepper motor. Here we go. and just scoring back and just go from there and just watch them and then do it myself. And then it should come better to me. But right now, I pass to the masters, which is EM is a dying breed for repairing. That's why you're so busy. Well, what I'm doing is not just – I'm teaching people how to fish. That's the thing. I am actually – I want the knowledge pool to grow because it's so fun to work on them, let alone play him. It's like working on him is like such a thrill that, you know, it's the best kind of work. And it's like hands-on kind of, it's like high level, almost like knitting early. I mean, you just kind of, it's automatic once you get into it. It's like, you're just, the time disappears and, you know, it's nine o'clock and you've already rebuilt a few steppers. So highly encouraging. All right, Bruce, I think I, you know what time it is? Time is it? I think it's time for a EM version of Game You Like, Game You Hate. I didn't tell Nick about this, but I do have two. I have two ready to go. So, Nick, I'm going to start with mine, and then you can think of a game you like and a game you hate of EM. Do your worst. Okay. The game I like as an EM, and it's grown on me after being in tournament play or anything like that, is a Valley Fireball.
    20:39
    The zipper flippers are starting to really grow on me. Well, how many zipper flipper games have you played? Nippet, Fireball.
    20:49
    There's only five, isn't there? Zipper flipper? No, there's more than that. There is? Okay. See? see so well i i like fireball i think it's uh i think there is a little bit of um you know some people argue that oh it's a novelty game because of the spinner and others are like it's the most best game in the world i think it's i think of it as a a classic game that's deservedly popular perhaps some of its notoriety is due to a novelty factor but it's not a novelty game there is enough real gameplay there that it's fun to flip and it looks cool and it really is kind of the Pac-Man of EM pinball. You know, when people think about EM, they think about Fireball. So, yeah, I think it deserves its place. I like it too.
    21:38
    Okay, EM I hate right now. Bally Circus. Oh, the one with the horrible clown backlash? Yes, yes. The playfield is just so barren on that thing. It's, you know, you think about it, 72, you have Fireball and then the year after you have Circus.
    22:00
    Yeah, I, that's one I don't, like, I don't actively, I hate the artwork, but, yeah, it, it's just, it's too average for me to hate. Like, the ones I hate are people that people talk up and they, and I, especially, you know, like, where a lot of people love it and I just really hate it. I'll tell you which one that is currently, but anyway. But yeah, Circus, I'm just like, eh, it's just kind of, it's too average to hate, you know? Okay. Yeah. So what would you have for your like right now for EMs, Nick? Well, my favorite EM, it's been the same since I bought it, is the Freedom prototype. Ooh!
    22:41
    We have plenty of the companies. Yeah, you guys played that at TPF. I just listened to your broadcast a little while ago. What did you guys think of it? The flipper geometry screws me up.
    22:53
    Good. It teaches you new skills. No, because you've got to learn how to trap it and flip it and pass it and bump it and all that. It's a different thing, you know? Okay, what about Spanish eyes? You played Spanish eyes? I love Spanish eyes. Love Spanish eyes. All right. Well, it's like the exact same Norm Clark layout down there, you know? It is, but it isn't because it's harder to hit the spinners on freedom.
    23:24
    It really is. Like, if you play a normal EM or a solid state, the flippers, you can hit the spinner with a nice shot. It seems like with the prototype, it's a lot harder to get the angle because of the flipper angle. I like it. Yeah, it's harder to abuse it. you certainly can't cradle the ball as easily and then smash it through. But on the same token, you can, it's easier to hit the drop targets because it's like a side sort of glancing blow. You can just smack it pretty well. It is.
    24:02
    So. How did you get your freedom? Let's ask that question real fast. Well, I actually saw it on Craigslist like a couple years ago. This was before I knew anything about middle pops. I mean, this was the game that kind of helped me figure it out, but I saw it on Craigslist in Las Vegas, and I was just looking at the geometry and like, oh, that's kind of unusual. Pop bumper between the flippers yada yada and then I was looking at the rarity and that there only I don know 100 or so built and so forth And so yeah I got it put together Yeah, I had it shipped. And when I got it, I mean, I paid $1,100 for it, sight unseen. And this was early in my buying, you know, experience or whatever. And I got it. The play field was torn up. The back glass was touched up poorly. And I was just like, oh, my God, what am I going to do? But I went ahead and rescued the thing and had it airbrushed and clear-coated and rebuilt everything. And doggone it, I think it just flips fantastically well.
    25:03
    And then just the whole middle pop geometry was just kind of like, well, how many of them are out there? And there's not very many, but I don't know. I think it teaches you new skills, and that's what's cool about it. It does. I don't know. The funny thing is it's rare, yet we saw it in two consecutive shows. Saw it at Arcade Expo, and then I go to Texas, and there's one sitting there. I'm like, Bruce, are you sure this is rare?
    25:31
    Yeah, I played the one at Expo. I volunteered on their little Fix-It crew, I think, last year or the year before. And, yeah, they have one next to the revised version, which is kind of cool. Yes, yes. So what game do you hate? Okay, well, I have to say, I have to especially put a little sand in the pearl here, in the oyster, too, really. It is the one that has somehow inexplicably climbed the IPDB popularity charts, or maybe it's pin side. Anyway, top 100 whatever charts for EMs are totally worthless. I can explain later. but this one is I think now number two or something. I hate this game. It exemplifies actually what I really kind of dislike about a lot of Gottliebs in the sense that they're just lane chasing games. They're like kind of a glorified bagatelle game. You're like you plunge the ball and it goes through some lanes and then it goes through some other lanes and then when you finally get the flippers, your play area that you actually play is like the size of a piece of toast, and then that's it. I guess when you're playing these games, you're like, oh, I almost nudged it. Oh, I guess I'll get it next game. Is that fun? I'm a geometry... Anyway, the game is Sweethearts. Hey, Sweetheart. Love the artwork, but it's like, it goes through one series of lanes, then it goes through another series of lanes, and then you have this tiny little area where you can either hit it back up the lanes, or go through a gobble hole. And also the outlanes are huge. And I'm like, who is, I don't know. I don't get it. I don't know why that's fun.
    27:19
    So Bruce, we got another Gottlieb hater here. I love this guy. I don't hate Gottlieb. I do think they're unfairly weighted because, see, I'm 45 and I came of age, I'm a little late actually for EMs. When I was old enough to be in arcades, I was playing like the big ballads, you know, Future Spa and Space Invaders and all that stuff. So the EMs were kind of already fading away. So what you have is a whole lot of collectors who are older than me, and Gottlieb was the dominant type of game and lane chasing. It was a little more quaint. Gameplay was a little more quaint back then. And they're kind of, they like that style. And then the younger folks who came into EMs later, they're not loyal to any one brand. They just want, like, speed and shots, and they're more like drop target kind of people, and that's like me. and so we have these top 100 rating systems or whatever and so we have this concentrated group of people from the older category who are really voting up the Gottliebs really high and then you got people like me who are like, eh, that one's okay, that one's not so good, that one's great. So it's kind of like a brand loyalty thing, I think, and also that kind of old-fashioned lane chase kind of gameplay that I guess some people are into, but not my thing. Well, we here at the Slamtail Podcast have no company love. We hate everything. Yes. No, we love Williams. Actually, I like the Williams EMs. The Williams EMs. Oh, yeah, they're awesome. Actually, besides Starflight, I like them all, the four-player ones.
    29:01
    Starflight just kills me. We've got Argosy, Grand Prix. Rancho. Rancho, you have the one... Hot Tip. Aztec. Aztec, that's the one I was thinking of. Hot Tip. Hot Tip's awesome. The Chief one, what's the other one? The Chief one we had at Arcade Expo. The one you played really well in the tournament, Ron. The Chief one. The Little Chief? Little Chief, yes.
    29:27
    Little Chief, yep, yep. That's another one. I don't know. No, you didn't play that. You played Aztec, but Little Chief is a great game, too. It's a little great game. but I will give love I do like 2001 which is a godly what? 2001's awesome that is my favorite wedgehead it screwed me so many times in tournaments it screwed me so many times that could be my hate and love in the same category I don't want to see it in a tournament but if it's just sitting there and I can play it over and over that's what I'll play Oh, that game is brilliant. That's actually my favorite Gottlieb, period.
    30:07
    And I have one, and I've had it cleared and all that. And, oh, my gosh, it plays so fantastically well.
    30:14
    Which one of you guys hates that game? The tournament. The tournament, right, the tournaments. I've been burned so many times in tournaments by that game. It's a difficulty level. Like one out of every ten games might be decent. And that's not very good odds in a tournament. Well, you know, if you're going to ask me, like, favorite EM, and really it's not fair to name the Freedom prototype because almost no one's going to get to play it because it's so rare. So if I had to pick one that's sort of mass production, I'd probably be Old Chicago. Oh, great game.
    30:46
    I think it's got a little of everything. Because you have the loop, you have your pop-up in the middle.
    30:52
    I actually don't mind the artwork. Christensen's artwork is great on that. Oh, it's brilliant. Yeah, it's fantastic. Brilliant. And, you know, it's got a lot of good shots. It really does. The geometry doesn't worry that much with the side shots going back up. I like that game. I like it a lot. The problem is trying to find one that's really nice shape lately. Well, I'm having my play field cleared at the moment, so once it's done, I'll invite you over. There you go. Excellent.
    31:23
    Sold. So, Ron, what is your game you like, game you hate? I have to do this? You brought up saying EM time. Well, I was going to say 2001, but I've used that before, but I'll use it again here, 2001. I don't – EM I hate.
    31:44
    What's the one – I don't really hate it, but I hate playing it in tournaments because of the – they made a couple of them. I think it's like Jax something or other. It's the one where you want to get it in the two holes that are above, like the 10 drop targets.
    31:58
    Oh, and then he kicks it left to right? Yes. Like, you plunge it, and there's one of the two holes is lit. You want to get in the lit hole. It's, like, the one thing that's worth the most. Oh, but that's jumping jacks. Yeah, jumping jacks. Yes. I hate that damn game. Damn. Oh, my gosh. Yes. Take it.
    32:13
    I like the difficulty, but I hate playing that in the tournaments because it comes just – it's a skill shot plunge fest. And just do you go – can you bump it in the right hole? Can you get it back up? Can you get it into the hole? And it's annoying. Yeah, the side flippers at the top, you can't really do anything with them. They're sort of kind of not effective. Yeah, you're trying to figure out if you're trying to use those to get it past the targets back up to the top and trying to time that or aim in any way is extremely difficult. And then you don't want to hit the damn drop targets themselves because you hit them and it just goes right down the middle. It's like, what was the point? Yeah, yeah, yeah. As far as horizontal target shooters go, I'd put that one way behind either Kingpin or Jack's Open. I think both of those are definitely more fun. I agree.
    33:05
    So where are you going to be headed to after Winnipeg? Okay, then we have the biggest single stretch of highway that is the longest. And it's Winnipeg to Edmonton, which is the furthest north, Alberta.
    33:23
    You know, it's Edmonton. I mean, it's way up there. So that's like a 14-hour leg. And, you know, not many takers in Saskatoon, you know, along the way. I wonder why.
    33:38
    Well, you know, being from Texas, people are like, you know, oh, my gosh, anything over six hours is crazy. and I'm like, you can drive all day and still be in Texas.
    33:50
    So we're kind of used to that. But I will be at the Northwest Pacific and Arcade show in time. I think that's June, what is it, 9th, 10th, 11th? That's a very good show. That's a fun, very good show.
    34:06
    Looking forward to that. I went to that four years ago. I actually brought my wife to Seattle, and we enjoyed the whole thing. But now it's in Tacoma, which is – but it used to be in Seattle right by the Space Needle when we went. Now they moved it down to Tacoma, which is a very nice area also. If you go out there, if you want to do some sightseeing, the Boeing plant is really cool to see where they assemble the planes. That's free.
    34:29
    Well, I have a very interesting stop immediately after the show, and I'll talk about it later on the thread. But that one should be rather interesting. I got some cool stuff coming up. We'll talk about it. Let's go.
    34:45
    He's keeping it a secret. That's right. Damn it. Damn it, Jim. Damn it. Okay, so is there anything you'd like to tell our listeners, like about any websites they should go to of yours where they can follow you or anything like that? Basically, plug in yourself.
    35:08
    Yes. Okay. Well, I mean, you know, you've probably seen the Pinside thread. It's the sticky thread about the North American tour. I mean, that's the best place to read it. I've got it on Facebook, too, but Pinside has – you can do inline images there, and it's just more interesting to read. All right. It's called Nick's North American Pinball Tour, a.k.a. I'm Coming to Fix Your Games. It's right on top. So check it out. We got the latest, and I'm writing it in a way that, and I barely have time to even think on this tour, because it's like, wake up, write, eat, work, drive, wake up, write. You know, it's like barely able to keep up, but it's working. It's pretty intense. I'll have to have like a wrap-up post after all this is over. But while I'm writing it in a way that the people can, if they're following the thread, I'm putting a little technical, like, and we polished this contact, and this is how we did it. and then we repaired it like this. And as you read it, I'm hoping the knowledge kind of slowly creeps in without the experience of having to read a textbook and make it kind of fun. That would be cool.
    36:15
    So hopefully that's working. But anyway, that's the place to keep track of it. So when do you expect to be home?
    36:26
    I don't know. Where am I going? No, I think I'm almost halfway there. Okay. Actually, Winnipeg is, I think, the halfway point, at least in terms of miles. Now, in terms of stops, I'm over halfway because there's a whole lot of East Coast people. That was a real big hill to climb, but I got through that. So, yeah, it's going to be probably mid-end of July when I get back. Just in the hottest time of Dallas.
    37:01
    Yeah, I was hoping to delay it a bit further, but maybe I'll launch a second mini tour. You know, who knows? Yeah, I've been in Dallas in the summer, and oh, my God, it's brutal down there. I was actually – I used to work for a company, and we used to go into warehouses and do repairs on their machines in the warehouses. And some of these warehouses, you'd be in there, and it's – the temperature gauge says 120 degrees inside the room, and they're all wearing shorts and a guinea tea. And you're going in there fully dressed like, hi, I'm here to work on your machine and sweat my blank off, sweat my balls off, and here we go. And it is brutal down there, but it is nice in the winter. Winter down there, I love. Oh, yeah. I mean, it's like shorts and, you know, hey, you know, margarita weather. Yep. And you got some good food down there now, too. You got In-N-Out Burger. You got a couple other good things down there. I like Dallas a lot. Well, you guys have something called Culver's, I discovered. Oh, in the Midwest. It's really good. Butterburger.
    38:05
    Well, okay. It was okay. It's okay. We have something called Whataburger down there. Yeah, Whataburger, yes. I think Whataburger definitely has the edge. But you have now In-N-Out, so In-N-Out's even better.
    38:24
    Well, actually, In-N-Out is complimentary to Whataburger. They're two different things, but I like In-N-Out, too. Yeah, I like In-N-Out. I like them both.
    38:32
    Yeah. Yeah, Butter Burgers are a little different. You know, Culver is a different breed. I think their sides are better than the burgers, like their onion rings and their cheese. They have cheese curds, which I don't eat, but they have cheese curds and, you know, a couple of other things that are pretty good. And they have good ice cream. Oh, yeah. I discovered the cheese curds, actually. I did eat some of those. I was like, it looks pretty good. Pretty tasty. Yes, cool. I'm glad you enjoyed that. I used to travel over to country, so I know what you're going through right now with that. And I always, if you look at my belly, it's big. And I like to eat.
    39:13
    When he goes back to Texas, is Hank Hill going to be his final repair stop? Oh, my God. So if Hank Hill had a pinball machine, I wonder what it would be. I wonder what he'd eat. Is there a propane-based pinball machine?
    39:28
    Probably not. Well, listen, you guys, having fun. Is there any other questions before I press my luck at the border here?
    39:39
    You are always welcome on. If you'd like to talk later on, like in a couple weeks or a month, or when you get back, we would love to have you back on for a full show. We go for sometimes an hour and a half, but we would definitely love to have you on and see the rest of your adventure.
    39:54
    Sure, sure. I'm sure. I got stories, man. I got some funny stuff already. You'll have the stage. You'll have this whole stage. Well, this is all for the people, for the knowledge. I want the EM Army to be strong and powerful. That's the goal. Maybe we'll have to buy another EM, Ron. The EM Army will overtake the Stern Army by force. Yeah, I know. I hope so.
    40:17
    Well, Nick, thank you very much for being on. Don't forget, this is Nick Schell. He is doing the North American tour. Yes. If there's anyone listening from Europe, please give me a call so I can do the next European pinball tour. Ooh.
    40:34
    There's a lot of good EMs out in the Netherlands and up in the northern half. There's some really fun ones up there. So they could use some love.
    40:44
    I can only hope. All right, guys. All the best. I'll come back and chew the fat with you a little later. This is fun. Thank you very much, Nick. Anytime. Good luck getting through the border. All right. Cheers. Thanks. All right. Bye. I'd like to thank Nick Schell once again for joining us on the podcast. He was great. And I can't wait to hear more of his adventures later on after his tour is done. Especially in Canada. Eh? Which, did you know that it's going to be their 150th year? They're still behind us, though. They're still behind us. Is it July 1st? July 1st. I think some guy named Jeff told us this. What's his name? Jeff. Oh. Jeff Teolis. Teolis, that's the guy from... Pinball Profile. Yes. He wanted us to... Plug him. Oh, my. Goodbye. Shout out to your neighbors to the north. Yes. 150th... 150 years of Canada. Oh, Canada. Just think, they didn't get their freedom from the British monarchy until after our Civil War. Amazing. So what's going on, Bruce? Nothing much. We had a great guest, so let's continue the show right now with our episode 45, Spectre. News of the week. A piece of news. Piece of news. Batman code .75 has been dropped. I'm Batman. Will it help it? I don't think so. But I hope so.
    42:18
    They can't change the play field, unfortunately. They cannot change the play field. But I know Lyman will make the rules better and better. And it sounds like it's getting better and better with the rules. But you can't polish a turd. But I'm going to be positive about this one. Be positive. Yeah. We are the most positive podcast.
    42:41
    Yes, we are. That will be the title, Positive Podcast. Maybe not. I don't like that one. But we did do our game like, game of hate. We did a little out of order because Nick had to go through the border.
    42:54
    What else is going on? IFPA Champion Week is going on as we speak with a couple of our friends in? Copenhagen. Yeah, Copenhagen. They had, what is it, the Danish Open? The Danish Open.
    43:11
    Greg Pavarelli took second in B. Second in B. Our own Greg Pavarelli. Yes, who was on last week. So we must be good luck. Like that Jeff Deolos guy. Well, you know, he was on, and then when he was on the plane going to Copenhagen, in the same row right across from him was Raymond Davidson, another listener. So it's incredible. It's a slam-tail connection. It is. And Zen was with Greg going over there also. And Lyman's over there with Penny and a lot of other good players. So it's nice seeing the updates from everyone. It really is. And Eric Stone's there and a couple other people. and oh my god, just a lot of who's who's the players. And no offense to any of our non-United States listeners, but USA! USA! USA! USA! Come on! And Phil's there. What's his last name? Phil from Canada? Birnbaum. He's there also. And he won actually the first tournament. Which was what? I don't know. He didn't say, but he actually won a trophy. And it was first place, because they only give trophies at the first place out there. So he took first place in the first tournament. They don't believe in any of that consolation bullshit. They don't believe in participation trophies. You only get a trophy if you win. Or go home. Win or go home. Well, actually, it got great chocolate.
    44:28
    Yeah, which, actually, I would have probably preferred that over the trophy, depending on the trophy. Yeah, I know. Well, it's a Toblerone. You can get those anywhere. Oh, okay.
    44:37
    But I'd like to wish all of our listeners out there who are in the beautiful European continent right now to have a good time, enjoy, and take it home for USA. USA Hey Ron, did you notice this tournament coming up on July 15th? I've heard something about that I think it's called Pomp or Stop or no, Stop The Stem Tilt Oh my Stem Wall Tournament And we almost have 10 people signed up already Shaping up to be a barn burner It is, a lot of good players already Steve Bowden Steve Bowne signed up, and he sent a picture of George Takei's Sulu with the sword from the Star Trek. I'm ready.
    45:28
    I'm ready. So you get to see some famous people at Ron's tournament, and it's nice that, honestly, I'm feeling better and better about not actually doing the tournament director stuff, main stuff, so I can help you with repairs. So it's going to be even better. It's going to be even better. I will probably not be playing in it Wow Yes I feel it may be a little A little unfair I guess what My record at my house Is like 1 out of 8 tournaments I win Yeah it's fine But I want to be more like I want to be cheering everyone on At the stop tournament I just want to be a good host You paid for me then No you can pay for yourself I consider that extra money into the pot. No, you paid for me. You heard it here first, folks. Ron paid for me. No, I did not pay for you. No, I did not. I'm winning. I am going to win this whole thing because it's going to be free for me now. No, no, no. Call it Quicksilver Gas Money. Yes, because that's coming out. Yes. Quicksilver will be there. Stargazer will be there. We can have an old sternament or a new sternament, whichever kind of sternament you desire. Like the old better. Yeah, I like the old better, too.
    46:48
    So this is episode 45, Ron. Yes. We're going to do something big for 50. And what's that going to be? We're going to do two things. All right. Now, I have no idea what Bruce is going to say here.
    47:01
    We plan these things very well. You can tell. Yeah, you can tell. So you'll actually hear Ron's reaction also. Okay, hold on. What are we doing, Bruce? There's two things we're going to do. All right. First, we're going to give away a PB Helper for our 50th show. All right. Give away, baby. Yep.
    47:22
    We're actually going to ship it to you anywhere in the USA. If you win it outside the country in the USA, we'll have to figure something out. But in the USA, I will ship it to you. You'll get a PB Helper free of charge from me. What do you have to do to get in this contest, Bruce? from episode 46 to 49, I'm going to give you questions. What kind of questions, Bruce? About the 40, the earlier episodes. Oh, so you'll have to have someone to actually listen to them. You have to listen to them or go find the information. Hmm. Every right answer gives you one entry. And then at the 49th episode, after the 49th episode, before we do the 50th episode, which will be July 1st, all entries must be in with all the answers. You can give them to me every week. You can go back and look through all the shows. There will be one right answer for each one. It will be something we might have said. It might be a game we like. Maybe a game we hate. Maybe who was our first guest. Maybe something like that. How many yawns per episode that Bruce has? How many yawns that I have in one episode? Who knows? But you get a chance to win something for free. So who doesn't like that? Who doesn't like that? You get one entry per week. So if you get the answer wrong. Oh, okay. You can't give it a day later. Oh, it was this answer. No. One entry only per week. So the max entries you can have is four The answers will be given out on the 50th 50th show All right And we will pick a name random from random Random Everyone will be in it, who's been in it.
    49:09
    And then you get a free pinball helper. Now, the helper, it actually helps you take legs off a machine and put them on at a show. Really cheap, easy. Check it out at www.pinballlifter.com.
    49:21
    All right. And the second thing is... What's the second thing, Bruce? I want one of our guests to be our 50th guest. You mean one of our listeners? One of our listeners, sorry. So one of our listeners is going to get to be a guest on episode number 50?
    49:41
    Yep, yep, yep. Well, what do you got to do to have this happen, Bruce? All you got to do is email us why you should be on and want to be on the Slamtail Podcast for the epic 50th episode. And you'll want to send those emails to slamtillpodcast at gmail.com. Yes. Why do you want to be on our episode? It could be for any reason. Like, I hate Gottliebs, too, and I want to talk about how bad they are with Bruce for an hour. Exactly. It could be something simple as that. Now, you can send us an email from now until June 28th. Okay, June 28th. I'm marking my calendar down. Yep. We will then ask you to come on the winter. and this will all be judged by Ron. I'm putting that pressure on him. Oh, thank you. No problem. He can ask me what he thinks. He'll break it down to three, and then we'll pick it. We'll ask you to come on. And what do they need? Well, if you want to come on, it would help if you have Skype. Yes. And a headset. It's not mandatory. We do have other guests, Scott, who prefer to call in. Well, Nick was driving, so I'll give him that. Yes. Really, you only need a phone. But if you had Skype, it'll just sound better. I mean, if you listen to our guests, the ones that call in, the sound quality isn't quite as good. But we can do it. We want the 50th episode to be about you guys, the fans. Yep.
    51:11
    Okay, Ron. Yes. Repairs? I did none. Okay, I'm getting Stargazer closer and closer. And Quicksilver is almost ready. The only thing I have to do on Quicksilver is swap the spinner, unless you want me to keep the Simpsons spinner on there. No, no, that doesn't work. Now, I have a question now for you. All right. Original spinners are green with gold stars in the back. They are? Okay. They are. I can't find them anywhere. Yeah, I can see that. I do have white stern ones with the newer style. That's fine, as long as it works. As long as it spins good. It will be a true blue stern spinner. Yep. That's fine. I'll replace both because then they'll match. All right. Just save the old one. You never know when they'll come in handy. Of course. So you got the drop target parts I sent to you and they actually work? No, I have not put them in yet. Oh, okay. Sack it. I'm going to see hopefully tomorrow. All right. Cool. At another tournament. Another tournament? Yes. The Wednesday bi-weekly tournament in Syracuse. All right. So I asked today a question from some of our fans on Facebook. Oh, you did? Well, before we get to that, because that goes along with the whole mail and all that stuff, I just want to say I was at some tournaments over the weekend. Yes, you were. And after taking shit from everyone over my continued failures, I just want to say, everyone.
    52:50
    Oh, everyone. I played at the Stellar Wars launch party. He did. It's an exciting new game from Williams. Steve Ritchie design, 30 inches of action, 30 inches wide. It was at Levy's Funatorium in New York City on Saturday. I went down with Tim Sexton, Tim Balls. You can catch the stream with scintillating commentary on his Twitch channel. Just look for Tim Balls on Twitch. and I finished third after having to fight for my life to win a playoff game on Star Wars just to get in, getting an awesome score, a great moment in my pinball career, and I got third place in a tiebreaker against him for third and fourth. Which I did watch the whole thing, the whole finals. Got myself a trophy. Yes, you did. Then yesterday, Rock Fantasy had a Memorial Day tournament, which actually a lot more people showed up than I think Steve anticipated. Actually, his store is very busy on Memorial Day. That's good.
    53:57
    Because we had Tim. Tim came down. Jerry Bernard, Jerry Saab was there, just a perennial winner at that location.
    54:07
    I talked about on this podcast how it's one of my goals to one day hold the Hulk head. That's what you get to hold when you win a tournament at Rock Fantasy. And I finally got to hold the Hulk head. I didn't see the picture, so you need to post that on the page. Okay.
    54:26
    Yeah, I'll link it or something. Yes, please. Yes, I finally got to hold the Hulk head beating a 14-year-old in the final, an up-and-comer. I guess this kid, he started playing down there and taking a lot of the high scores, and this was his first tournament.
    54:41
    So it ended up being me, Tim, and him. They were doing like a knockout elimination format. And Tim picked Circus Voltaire, and that did not go well for him. And he was eliminated. So it was just me and the kid. And we played Star Trek, where he had a killer Klingon multiball, and I was quite behind going into my third ball. Came from behind to take a small lead, and then he drained out on his last ball, and I took the Hulk head. Finally. And then announced my retirement. So you retired? You're not going to Stevens anymore now? That's kind of my – no, I'll be going there. That's kind of my – that was like my last real goal. I mean, with my talent level, that was kind of the last thing I thought I could do.
    55:28
    So I'm pretty satisfied with my playoff career. Thank you. I'm glad my ball busting has finally got you some work. Oh, yeah, that's what did it, Bruce. It was. Without all the ball busting, I would not have been able to do that. I agree, totally. All right. You posted something on our Facebook page asking our listeners for some topics. Yes, I did, and I got a couple. We got a couple. I did. I'm going to bring them up right now. You don't have it up already? Of course not. Fail. I'm looking right at it, Bruce. Okay, then you start the first one. Okay. This is from Alex Huffman. Hi, Alex. He said, I'd like to hear you all speak about recruiting new players to local leagues. What has worked and what hasn't? Other than dividing gameplay into divisions based on skill to draw in beginners, what are other ways to get the general public interested in weekly play? I've tried a few posts on Reddit that have drawn up some attention, but have not yielded any new players. Well, it all depends on what league you're trying for, how many people you have in the league. But there's some good ideas we use.
    56:34
    In Western New York, we actually have 30 players in our league. and most of it's word of mouth because we have a pretty good thing up here. Pinside, I know for Albany, has done really well. I saw the thread today blowing up for the Albany Pinball League where people were saying, oh, we've got more people coming in and they're talking about different locations, I see. So Pinside's a great place to try to recruit people. Did you just say Pinside's a great place in one sentence? For recruiting people in leagues. That's all I said. Please take the full sentence. Don't just cut that. Don't take it out of context, folks. Do not take it out of context. But for our league, we have very high-rated A players with myself and Eric Russell and Jason Plourde and a lot of other players who are from 350 down to 1,000 who play really well. And we also have some 3,000 to 5,000-ranked players and some people who are barely ranked, maybe in the 15,000s. So what we do in our league, and it's a pain in the ass, but it works, is we play match play, which is either playing three man groups or four man groups. If you're going to play a three-man group, you play four games, and you go with a scoring of 3-2-1-0. Or if you have three man groups, you're going to play six games with 2-1-0. So the points all even out at the end of the night. And what we do is every league night, you don't play the same player. It's a pain in the ass. You've got to need a spreadsheet for this or anything like that. But we actually figured out where only four or five players played each other twice. So the good thing about that is you might play some good players one week, but you'll never hopefully have to play them the second through, we go, eight months.
    58:25
    Another good thing with the league is you can miss two nights. So you can miss, out of the first four weeks, you can miss one night. and then the second four weeks you can miss one night. I think for this year, for our Western New York League, we're going to make it so you can miss two nights. You can make them consecutive. You can miss them in the beginning. You can miss them at the end because at the end of the league night, the top 12 of the 30 are grouped in A for the finals. Players 13 through 20 are in a little mini B division. so you're replaying the people you you know your skill level is the same at so you don't discourage people you know because what happens is if you have we used to do four players and then we expanded to six players in the finals if you got seventh you got nothing with this you have a chance to move up and play better and try to be in it and actually the ninth position player was in the finals this year so he was in the top four so he worked his way up he played the best and got into the finals there's a lot of things you do but getting players is the hardest and keeping good players and plus having good locations is another thing we do it out of homes in western new york buffalo does that at homes central new york does it out of locations and homes so it works out really well all around. But with those key pieces of making sure you don't lose your bottom core players and you don't want them to feel too discouraged about playing too many good players where they're saying after the second month going, I'm not going to play this anymore. You want it to be fun and you want it so they have a goal to reach at the end of the year.
    60:13
    If you have local places you play at and you're trying to form a league, put posters up there. Ask the place that your local pinball machines are at. Post flyers there. People will want to see this, and most of these people will hopefully then join more of your core group and want to play pinball more and encourage more pinball. If you have a selfie league local, do that. Try to get more people involved.
    60:40
    What Bruce said. Yeah, thanks. The second question from Derek Karamanian. Karamanian, I'd say. What is the pinball industry as a whole? Okay, the pinball industry as a whole is failing and doing good at. So what the pinball industry as a whole is failing and doing good at. Okay, so what are your ideas, Ron, for failing? he's saying the whole industry so I can't just say things like Stern's cabin is falling apart well you can say quality control yeah I'll say quality control but I mean it's more for specifically for Stern I don't hear anything about Jersey Jack cabin is falling apart or spooky cabin is falling apart or whatever cost for me the cost overall is getting higher and higher and it's going to be harder for your average person. Although, you can still argue that the Stern Pro is at least a decent deal. It is.
    61:47
    So, I mean, it could always do more promotion. I think that's the worst thing they do is promotion. Yeah. Think about it. With Walking Dead, until like six months ago, they weren't even bringing them to Walking Dead shows. Like, you know, and these people when they saw them were like, oh my god, and they sold 20 of them at one of these Walking Dead conventions. Her Walking Dead convention? What am I saying? Of course her Walking Dead conventions. Yes. And they brought 20. And guess what? They sold all of them. And people didn't even know about it.
    62:20
    And it's just Stern does a terrible job. And most companies do. A terrible job at marketing it. The best one that does it actually is J.J.P. He goes to these Comic Cons. And now Stern's doing that also a little bit too. But you got to get it to where people with money will want to spend that money. These people make these outfits that cost them $2,000 to $3,000. Maybe $7,000 to $8,000 for dropping on one of their premium titles like Walking Dead, Star Trek, or down a new one, Star Wars. They might blow that money in a second. Star Wars? Star Wars. But don't forget that's Stellar Wars. That is a hot freaking title. Stellar Wars is a hot topic. I mean, there were some issues with the clear coat, with the inserts, and I think the software was like early prototype software, but I thought it played very well. Yes. So that means you're going to buy one now, right? No. No, I don't think so. I forgot to ask Levy if he got the Pro or like the Premium model. It looked Premium, though. It did look – Yeah, it had enough drop targets where I think it was Premium. I think so. Yeah, I bet you the Pro probably changed one of them to stand-ups instead of drop targets or something. So another thing that they're failing with is the promises.
    63:37
    You know, oh, it will be done in two weeks. Oh, we're going to have a pinball machine ready. Oh, we're going to have this. And honestly, every manufacturer has been failing in one way or another with their promises.
    63:51
    All right. Okay, what are they doing well? Innovation, maybe. You could say a little bit with the LCD screens finally getting into the 21st century. Well, Stern finally getting into the 21st century. Well, everyone. Actually, everyone. JJP started it, and then they've all followed suit. I think there's no manufacturer out there now without an LCD.
    64:12
    I would say they're doing things well. I mean, I think the licenses they've come out with have been good licenses. Ghostbusters is a great license. Yes. You know, the bands like Metallica, ACDC, Walking Dead. I mean, they're good licenses. they're getting. I think the games are excellent.
    64:30
    I mean, if you get past the ghosting issues and late code and quality control, but I mean, just the code in general, I mean, the games are fun.
    64:41
    I'm talking mostly Stern, at least the ones I know. And just, they're doing good, and we have a lot of manufacturers out there now. We have a lot of different companies, finally, which is a good thing. That's, you know, years Years ago, Gary Stern said the industry could not take more than one pinball company. Gee, I wonder why he was saying that. He could not have been more wrong. Of course. I mean, the more, the merrier. Well, don't forget, at the same time he was saying that, he was saying the home buyer did not matter. Yeah, Stern said that for a long time. Now they have their entire premium model in LE specifically for home buyer. Yes, which is just hilarious. So those were the two topics. Of course, Jeff Teolis, he wants five yawns and four oh my's. Well, I've only heard two oh my's from you, and I haven't yawned yet because it's early still. Oh my.
    65:38
    Oh my. Okay, enough of that. We're not doing all of them. But you did your oh my, so you're done. I'm done. I'm done with oh my's. I've got three more yawns for me. Oh, Jeff Teolis of Pinball Profile also asked, how about an email from the Aussie and a 2,000-word essay from the Pinball Princess? How about one of two?
    65:59
    Yes, we do have an email, and I have heard it on good authority that that essay is on the way. Oh, really? Wow. I haven't seen it yet. Yes, I replied. Keep listening. Be patient.
    66:12
    They're coming. Please be patient. Let's see what we have in our mail bowl bag. Or. Is it the sack? Well, you know, we're taking the mail ball bag and we're pulling letters from our sack. Yes, we are. Oh, my. So we have, you can do the first one. I'm going to it right now, waiting for my phone. You don't have it up yet? I have all this stuff ready to go, Bruce. Come on. I'm watching porn at the same time as I'm doing this freaking thing. Get off of Pornhub. That's why your connection, you keep breaking up because you just keep streaming the porn. Turn off Pornhub. I can't. Open up your email. You can't. It won't close. Instead of the parental block, his is the opposite. It prevents porn from ever being turned off.
    66:57
    I call it the Beavis and Butthead porn all hour. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Porn's good. Yeah, yeah. Carson is. Okay. This is from Brian. His email title is The Male What Now? The Male Ball What Now? Sorry. Hey, gents. Love the show.
    67:20
    Thought you'd be interesting to learn that if you're dealing with lower security, second or third class, a mail sack is often used instead of a mail bag. Oh, my. And he sent a Wikipedia link, so we know it's true. Yes, of course. Everything on Wikipedia is true. And he says, now I realize this might have ramifications for some of your mail segment, which I will leave for you to review in what will no doubt be a spirited discussion.
    67:48
    Hope to say hey in Pantastic, which we will both be going there. Fantastic. Uh-oh. We can call it the sack. No, no, mail ball bag. Well, I'll say it's the mail ball bag where we take mail out of our sack. Okay. And it's smoothly shaven. Oh, wow.
    68:09
    Like I said, get off Pornhub. I can't help it. It's freaking on all the time. I close it and four more ads pop up.
    68:17
    Second email. Second email we have. Oh, I see you had the same problem. We have Lonnie. Hi, Lonnie. He says, I found one for your segment. This might just replace your Playboy back glass. and this is a craigslist ad which i was i was worried i'd click on it and it would say like it was already gone but it was there it's still there 750 dollars from the st louis craigslist it is a what's the title what's the pin it's it's not like why i hate i didn't want it talked about it's a strata flight 1974 williams pinball and you look at it and the play field is like okay okay it's okay and you look at this you look at the cabinet art you're like okay Okay, and then you look at the pack class.
    69:04
    I don't even know how to describe this thing. Oh, I can describe it very well. It's really easy. There's the Stratoflight ship that's in the middle. Actually, it's all gone. So all you see is a blue, like, sky with a couple clouds, puffy clouds, and cutouts for your score reels, and the Stratoflight in the middle with the little words, Superflight. Not even Stratoflight, but Superflight. Yeah, not even that. I mean, it's like they made this. Oh, they made this. I don't even know if this is a remnant from the old one. They basically painted the entire thing blue, put some clouds in, and then put a red ship in the middle with the wrong title. And where the score reels are, they just cut out just enough to show each digit. Yes. And it says below it, like, player one, player two, player three, player four in clouds. Yeah. And if you look at the sides of the backlash, you actually see it's, like, taped with, like, flower pattern on one of the tape sides.
    70:05
    It's Astro Flight, according to this. Astro Flight. And it's got, I mean, at least with the Grand Prix we had on the one time, it said right on it, like, the cabinet has obviously been repainted. Yes. This one really doesn't mention anything. It's just like, no.
    70:26
    Nothing is new here, people. Move along. It plays very well. V-A-R-Y. Excellent. Excellent spelling. He doesn't want any text for this either. Yeah. This is one of the ones where you know someone. It's not someone who knows anything about pinball. When you see things like. All score clocks work. Playfield is two words. Usually most pinheads will make it one word. just like, yeah, okay. That's bad. That was very good. Thank you. Thank you, Lonnie, for that. That was quite the chuckle.
    71:05
    Oh, boy. Now, the next one is yours. We got Ryan C. again. And this is about Ghostbusters again, which is going to lead to another subject because we had another post on our page. Well, we'll get into that. But I'll say the email first. This is from Ryan C. from Australia. G'day, lads.
    71:24
    Okay, I was thinking about Dialed In. I might have to practice that again. I was thinking about Dialed In, and it really is the popular opposite to Ghostbusters in many ways. Theme, Ghostbusters is a licensed property. Dialed In is a new original IP. That's correct. Hype, Ghostbusters has insane amounts of hype due to the leaked pictures of the zombie Eddie art and the beautiful play field. Agreed. Dialed in had bad hype as a Pat Lawler game, had hype as a Pat Lawler game, but no one had any idea what it would be.
    72:05
    Reveal. Ghostbusters Ellie sold out instantly on reveal. Yep, everyone loved that thing. People shouting out, best game ever? Dialed in sent wing...
    72:17
    Windside. Okay. Windside. Oh, I get it. I think he's referring to a certain forum. DialedIn sent Wingside into a spiral about the theme and the fact that JJP couldn't properly reveal and explain the game. Yeah, and everyone said it sucked. He's calling Pinside Wingside. Yeah, yeah. I'm cringe.
    72:38
    Testing. Ghostbusters has massive issues with ghosting, and the design seems a bit rushed with the air balls, drop bricks, etc. Dialed In has been on site for nine months and seems to be playing like a finely tuned instrument.
    72:53
    Yeah, the only issues I've seen are like the typical scoop wear, which you're going to have to do a cliffy or some kind of protector for, and major magnet wear around the magnets by the drones. Those are really the only things I've heard that put issues with it. Software. Ghostbusters software was a mess on shipment and still all over the place. Dialed In on shipment seems to have complete software that is pretty well balanced. but still yet to be fleshed out. Gameplay. Ghostbusters, like a lot of recent games, Alien Hobbit etc seems to rely more on theme and experience to make the player have fun The game also lacks flow Dialed in seems to have a few gimmicks but the fun seems to be in the playfield layout and the shot Satisfaction just seems like next level stuff.
    73:41
    Sales. Ghostbusters used all the hype to sell great figures, and it's still selling. And slowly, slowly people are finding out that the pin may lack what they truly enjoy out of pinball. I don't know if I totally agree with that. It keeps selling. That thing sells. They're selling a ton of those. But now people are starting to sell them now. I've seen more great Ghostbusters LEs and Pros and even Premiums being sold in the past three weeks. Maybe it's because of the hype of Star Wars or maybe even dialed in. But I've seen a lot more Ghostbusters being sold. All right. Dialed in off to a very slow start. And people are slowly beginning to realize that the game is really great. and word of mouth will slowly sell more games. What do you guys think? Can you explain why you choose to order Dialed In besides it's fun? Oh, well, the reason why I ordered it is because it's fun.
    74:34
    Very good, Bruce. Very good. Okay. Yes. Well, I have six months to answer it. I'll tell you in six months. When you finally receive it, yeah. No, no, no, because I don't have to give my answer right away. You have to have your answer six months before mine. I have to have – okay, I don't get what you're saying. because you ordered yours six months ago. Oh, all right. All right. Sorry. Joking. Busting your balls. Yeah, you do that a lot. I'm ordering mine because my wife likes it. Done. Enough said. If my wife wants to buy a pinball machine, done. Because guess what? She picked Game of Thrones, and that was gone fast. I don't think this one will be that way.
    75:13
    I liked it because I played it. You have to play it. You have to experience the game. It's got good flow. Great shots. I really, you know, and it's kind of also. Did you see the Buffalo pinball pod feed? Yeah, I saw, yep. I like the music they added. That wasn't there originally. I like the music. I like the fact that it's an original theme. I actually liked the cell phone theme. I might have been a minority at the debut, but I thought, yeah, this is pretty cool. And the lasers coming down to kill your flipper, like, ah, no holding the ball. That's a good idea. I'm sick of seeing that. I want to see flippers die and people lose their ball. Yeah, I mean, it's got the guy that goes across the play field, magnets galore, the screen. Just the fact that it's kind of part of my collection. I'm trying to get more variety. I don't have any Jersey Jack games, and I have no interest in Wizard of Oz or Hobbit. And it's conventional size, thank God. They finally, at least with this game, just give me a conventional size. Ditch the wide-body crap. I mean, it's so hard to make a good playing wide-body. It really is. Those are the reasons. I mean, things like the selfie mode I think is cool as hell. It's got the hologram thing going on. Even the drones, which really don't do anything but the propellers move.
    76:40
    And, yeah, I just like it. I liked it when I played it. I just like the game. and pretty much decided when it was revealed that I was – I decided it was on my list, and then I went to play it. I think it was at a distributor, and I played it again. It's like, yep, still like it. Yep. So that's why. Hopefully that's a good enough explanation.
    77:05
    I think it's a great explanation. So that finishes the emails. But wait, there's more. There's more. We started a little bit of a shitstorm.
    77:16
    Well, friend of the show, Mr. Bowden. Yes. Fun with bonus. He enjoyed the letter from our Aussie friend. Yes, right. His ranting about Ghostbusters. And Steve kind of did his own rant and linked to it through our Slamtail page. And if I was a good host, I'd have that up, which I don't. Good job.
    77:46
    I'll say right now, Hi, Zach. Hi, Zach. You saved me. Okay. He goes on how the skill shot is worth more than freaking, you know, people's whole scores in the whole games that towards the end, if you have a good game. Yes. And he also talked about being in pinball purgatory. Yes. On his site. And this is on his site. Final bonus. It's called 1000. When late ghostbusters, skill shot, exploit bug feature purgatory. where he goes into full detail about the skill shot exploit, which we talked about. Actually, I think Timmy brought that up. And Timmy demonstrated that to me while at Rock Fantasy. It does work. That's good. Yes, that's good or bad. Bad, actually very bad. And he mentioned the purgatory where you fail to hit the skill shot and then you have to basically hit the ghost target. Slimer comes down and you pray you can get through without draining to actually start a moat. and he had different suggestions for different ways of doing it. I mean, I suggest you go to his site and read it. I can't really do it justice by just reading it here. But, oh, my God, so many people commented. Yeah, there was just comments about, yeah, how can you not like Ghostbusters, or, you know, do you really think it's not fun? Yes, I totally agree. I could see, well, here's what I've noticed, and this is very interesting to me. The people who own it love it. The people who don't own it hate it. Not just that. It is that. No, it's not just that. It's your casual players and people show they love this game. And I enjoy watching people play the game. And that's the one thing Steve said. I've never had a game where I enjoy watching people play it but don't want to play it myself. and what I've noticed is almost to a man and woman every tournament type player that I know you know ones that play primarily at tournaments you know better players I wouldn't even see better but I'm just players that are really into the tournament thing they all hate it if they don't own it if they don't own it now if they own it besides yourself they like it like I know some tournament players that own it and they're like oh i love the game you know so i just i thought that was funny though i mean just and it's been like that from the beginning i remember when it first came out and i was asking him about like what do you think about ghostbusters and i just get the head shake no not feeling it especially before like the um the lane the lane guide jump thing was you know fixed where you could actually fix it before any of those you know fixes came out When it was even worse, they hated it even more. If you listen to the old podcast, the first 10 episodes, Ghostbusters came out, and we were talking about it, and you will hear me say right off the bat, oh my god. And I was trying to convince you at the one time, what was I saying to you? Change your order. Yeah, but I didn't really have anything to change it to. I wasn't going to get Kiss. I wasn't going to get Walking Dead. That was my only other choice. I would have gotten Walking Dead in a second. But you got that. But I was the one saying right off the bat, oh, my God. And now people are starting to see. See the light? See the light. Hey, you know, all I can say is one person's Popeye is another person's Twilight Zone or something like that. I think it was her.
    81:15
    But, I mean, my issue is not, I said it before, I've never had a game where I've liked as many individual features with it but just didn't like to play it as a Ghostbusters. Okay. So, but it is what it is. Oh, it is what it is. God. I don't mind watching it. Like, I'll watch it on a stream almost like, kind of like, you know, if you watch golf like I do and there's like that 17th hole TBC Sawgrass, the Island Green, and all these pros go up there and you see them hit it in the water and you're actually rooting for them to hit it in the water because you just like watching them fail because they're pros. That's kind of my enjoyment of Ghostbusters. I want to see top players on it and just watch the crash and burn. But the problem is you never see it in major tournaments in A Division because they don't want to put it in there because it has so many issues. Yep. They're afraid it's going to get exploited to hell. They're going to have these ridiculous games. So that's why you don't even see it there. But, you know, so that's the Ghostbusters thing. And it's funny because we started a little bit of it, Jack Danger showed it off. Yeah, and having a ridiculous game that he had with like 30 looping supers or whatever the hell it was. I mean, that part looked fun. I mean, man, I'd like to be in that game hitting that shot over and over like, holy shit, that's awesome. Well, last week we talked about Buffalo Pinball. Kevin Manning and Sir, what's his name? Tuna, McTuna. Sir Mix-a-Lot? Sir Mix-a-Lot. Sir McTuna. They were doing the 12-hours pinball marathon for St. Jude's Children Research Hospital. Trying to raise $2,000. And they raised over $2,400.
    82:58
    So, Kevin. Big hand. Yes. You get the big clap. Not the clap, but the big clap. Big clap. Yeah. So, great job, guys. I love seeing that. It's for a good cause. I wish I was able to join you for one hour, Kevin. It would have been fun, but, yeah, it didn't work out that way. Great thing for a great cause. Love seeing that. Maybe if we ever get the Twitch channel up, we could do something like that. Yeah, I think you bet. Did you learn anything from Timmy? I learned it looked really complicated, all these cameras, and he had to keep going in to change settings. That was the other thing about being at the funitorium. There's no power in the funitorium. He has to run power, like, from the bathroom across the hall, like with extension cords. Excellent. And from somewhere else, he had two long extension cords going in, and whenever you turned a game off or on, it would affect the power, and Timmy's stream would, like, take a hit. He had to, like, restart stuff. So it was like, okay, don't turn anything off or on.
    83:58
    Yikes. You got to love it. Yes, you do. Oh, it was so funny. So. Oh, I had one more thing. Go ahead. I didn't want to miss this one. this was also posted as a message to our slam till page did you know that george decay was a voice actor in the namco cool gunman game not at all i didn't know that that sounds pretty cool oh my oh you shot me you bitch oh set phasers to study what else do i got do i have anything we went through the mail all our comments my great victory my complete redemption holding the hulk holding the hulk head just what a great moment i suck at pinball because i haven't played in a while yep yep you suck at pinball um oh one last thing. Not two things, actually. Oh, I said actually this time. You're rubbing off on me, Bruce. Woo-hoo! We got a message from Evan Bingham saying that he got his Papa check. Oh! He got it Thursday, and sure enough, guess what was in my mail ball bag? Oh, my! When I got home from work.
    85:19
    All I saw, I saw the return address, 100 Keystone Drive, and I knew, ah, there it is. My check has arrived. Woo-hoo. And? What? Where's my check? Your share of what? The check. You know how hard it was for me to do that work? Listen to you complain how... That's from your rental. That's from your room rental. That's my room rental? For what? Yeah, for me. For you? You weren't even there. I know, but you still stayed here. I stayed there. I saw you for like five minutes. Yes, you did. Because Bruce gets up at 4 in the morning for some reason. I do.
    85:58
    And, well, this will be over, and hopefully I will be in this Wednesday at 7 p.m. So tomorrow, which will be Wednesday the 31st, will be the sign-up for the 24-hour at the Sanctum Tournament. Now, do you have your password and everything for Eventbrite? My password for Eventbrite? What do you mean password? You have to sign up for Eventbrite. What? That's their using that thing for buying tickets. Yeah, but the poppy is the same thing. I didn't have to sign up for anything. Okay. Well, it makes it a little faster sometimes. Oh. Just telling. Yeah, I'm about to say, what are you talking about? Don't say that to me. I'm telling you. Sign up after you're done. It makes it so you can track your order easier. Yeah, exactly. Okay. So if I don't get in because I was supposed to sign up for an account, Bruce can totally get on my case next week. Woo-hoo! All right. So it's time to pay some bills? Nope. No? No. A little bit more. We have more. Wow, this is an action jam-packed episode. We have not done this in almost a month. Would I buy that or would I not? Ooh, okay, so he's got some items. I do. So first, ticket number 142368211017.
    87:23
    Let's see. Fully paid Pornhub subscription. What? You can get these on eBay? Yes, you can. Come on, Bruce. Ooh, okay. We have a perennial favorite. I know Zach has one. a super straight pinball machine by Sonic. Yes. Kind of. Nice shape, it looks like. It's kind of pricey, though. It is a little pricey, but it's a nice shape and it's California, don't forget. And it's making best offer also. There's buy it now and there's a make offer. And there are 15 people watching it, so. Yes, so, you know, it's hot. Many people are sharing your opinion. Let's see. Oh, I can even zoom in on the pictures. Yes. Holy cow. There's glass on the play field, though. But let's see. I mean, looks good.
    88:11
    I mean, I'm sure the play field will look good because they always do. Oh, yeah. Play field looks immaculate as usual. And this is clearly superior to Prospector, according to Zach. Yes, it is. And don't forget, this is an EM because we are on our EM show. Yeah, definitely, the EM show. And if you're worried that it's a foreign game, once again, don't worry. It uses all Williams parts, so you can fix them. And you heard from Nick, Williams rocks. Yep. And actually, Zach said the same thing. Exactly. To me, he preferred working on Williams much more than Gottlieb. Okay, ready for the next one. Yeah, I am ready.
    88:49
    Ticket number 332021949672. Let's see. Enhance her pleasure. What are you sending me to, Bruce? Oh, my. Oh, wrong link again. Okay. Oh, we got another Playboy. Actually, I was kind of on the right track there. Yes, you were. See? Okay. We got a Bally. It just says Playboy Pinball. Yes.
    89:19
    $900. So let's see what Bruce thinks about this one. I'll have to look at it. Oh, the picture did some weird shit.
    89:26
    Wrong flipper. Wrong flippers. It's got Williams flippers on it. Cabinet severely faded. not hardly any pink left in that cabinet um the back glass i can't even it looks kind of weird yeah bubbly yeah uh playfield oh okay some major wear yeah i don't know i would not buy that for 900 nope neither would i and it says this pinball will need a lot of work the back glass is bubbling and the cabinet and playfield need a restoration.
    90:00
    So you basically need a new playfield, new cabinet, and new backless, but you want $900 for it? Yes. Okay. Sold not. Not. Do not buy this.
    90:13
    Next one. All right. This is actually a novelty, so I'm going to. Ticket number 152561-1225583. And you're going to see why. I like this one.
    90:32
    Matahari Playfield Coffee Table. Hmm. Now, if you look at this playfield, it is really nice. I would actually buy this and take this off and swap it into my machine if I had a Matahari that needed a playfield.
    90:48
    Yeah, interesting. Like, they didn't just – it's not just a playfield, folks. It's got all the mechs on it, at least on the top side. Yes. They have all the Macs on it with glass over it. Yep. So the drop targets have to be in there.
    91:00
    I swear, I think you take this thing off, you put your wiring harness on it, and you're ready to rock.
    91:06
    See, the plate feel's been touched up and sealed, and the plastics are in good condition. Overall, good shape for its age.
    91:13
    It's $700. And the table has authentic pinball machine levelers, so the height of the table can be adjusted. Yes. I don't think your coffee table has enough incline. Come on, man. Rake it. I want to put a coffee I want to put a drink on it and watch it slide the germ illumination oh it lights up too it does I think it's a pretty cool thing I saw this and I thought this was a neat novelty not only that I like it because he's got the picture he's got the description and he also included a link to a video a YouTube video so you can see it in action which I'm going to do right now let's see what it looks like Okay, it looks like you're looking at an actual pinball machine. It looks like the play field. Yeah. Wait a minute. It almost looks like it's in regular track mode, too. It almost does. Yeah. So I thought that was pretty cool. And if you have a Model Harrier that needs a play field, maybe this is your fixer.
    92:12
    Are you ready for the next one? How many more have you got, Bruce? I've got a couple more. Oh, God. Okay. I mean, great. Go ahead. Okay, ticket number 122520727974.
    92:39
    Yes, Michael Knight would approve of this. It's Knight Rider. EM. See, we're an EM thing. Oh, okay, it's the EM version. Yes, sir. A little trivia, folks. What was Michael Knight's real name?
    92:54
    Because he got shot in the first episode, and then he got plastic surgery, so he looked like David Hasselhoff.
    93:00
    Don't know. Don't know? Michael Long. Oh. There you go. Oh, my. I knew that without looking it up on Wikipedia. I'm proud of myself. All right, let's see. Playfield is rough. Oh, yeah. Very rough. Yeah. Actually, the whole game looks very, very rough. Yes. But the back glass isn't bad if you needed a back glass. Yeah, it's only $339. Exactly. So if you need the back glass and the boards. Parts. Yeah, and the parts, you know. Maybe it'd be worth it. I mean, I disagree with the description. Today we have a nice used Knight Rider pinball machine. No, no, no. I've owned this machine for over 30 years. Okay, after it was at an arcade getting the shit beat out of it for at least 10. Or maybe he's never waxed it and just rusty ball. No, I don't care. It still wouldn't be that much wear. Rusty ball? Maybe.
    93:54
    Rusty balls. You don't want to have rusty balls. Not in your ball bag. No. Yeah, so what are you recommending or not? I'd recommend it if you needed parts. If you want the back glass and maybe the boards and some parts? Okay. Wouldn't pay that much for it. More than what's on here. $339. Okay, this one's for you, Ron. Okay.
    94:16
    352. 072-559-087. Holy shit, a cheetah. Got to buy it right now. Oh, no. Okay. Yes, a guilty pleasure of mine. RoboCop. Only $1,500 ever made because you got to put that in the description, you know, to make it rarer to get a better price. I can't argue with that concept. If I was ever going to sell, like, Stargazer on eBay, I'd put, like, Only 800 made.
    94:50
    Let's see. And remember, it's in digital stereo. Digital stereo for your sound pleasure. The future of law enforcement. Is the glass on or not? I can't tell. There's only three pictures. The glass is not on. Let's see. Starting bid, two grand. A little high. Yeah, it's a little high. But I know it's a guilty pleasure of yours. Yeah, it's a great condition. bought from a dealer. Ooh, dealers. Dealers are great. A year and a half ago. Oh, I think it's supposed to be a dealer a year and a half ago. Barely used since. Barely. Lights and audio all seem to be working great, so probably not a pinhead here. Probably just a RoboCop fan. And probably overpaid for it. And I was passing the savings on to you.
    95:38
    Excellent. Yeah, I like RoboCop. Where is this at? Let's see. Okay, pass. you could drive out here and then no that's all folks unfortunately didn't get any hits on my cheetah dragon fist request from last week we need cheetah we need dragon fist or both please make Ron happy actually you know what would make me happy if you paid some bills then we could end this okay www.pinballlifter.com check my website out for all your lifter pinball helper needs don't forget in a couple weeks you can get the trivia questions you might even be able to win a pinball helper and don't forget if you want your machine to sound better go to flipper fidelity yes it's flipperfidelity.com we get no money from him no nothing from him he's just a friend of the show who we want to plug. Oh, my. Oh, there we go. There we go. Wow, is that the first one? It's three. Remember, I had two fakes. It's just three. Okay. So thanks once again. This has been Episode 45, Spectre. You can find us on Facebook. Just look for Slam Tilt Podcast. YouTube, just look for Slam Tilt Podcast. Our email address, sending emails for our wonderful contest and also for wonderful comments or any other thing you want to send. Well, I shouldn't say that. Send your comments. Oh, send anything. No, don't do that. Send anything you want. They'll send, like, videos and all kinds of – no, no. Send your comments and answers to Bruce's upcoming trivia questions to slamtillpodcast at gmail.com. I think that's just about it. Say goodbye, Bruce. Goodbye, Sarah Louise.
    97:36
    Can you boogie? Can you slide? Hold my mind, hold my mind You can boogie if you try Hold my mind, hold my mind Guaranteed to keep you alive